


Thunder and Nightmares

by MotherOfBeardedDragons



Series: Clint Barton Bingo 2019 [4]
Category: Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Fluff, Gen, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Nightmares, Phobias, Storms, Tornadoes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-15 04:49:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18491695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MotherOfBeardedDragons/pseuds/MotherOfBeardedDragons
Summary: Due to an experience as a kid Clint is afraid of storms. He wakes up from a nightmare in the middle of a storm and curses his stupid phobia. Fortunately Natasha is an awesome friend and reminds him that he's still a badass.





	Thunder and Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the square "nightmares" on my Clint Barton Bingo board.

   Clint was frozen in fear and couldn’t move, but he could hear everything in sickening detail. The hail pounding against the side of the house. The crashing of thunder and crackling of lightning. And the sirens, the eerie wail making his heart race and telling him to move, to seek shelter. They had gotten bad storms before, but he had never heard the sirens, and now that he had they struck fear into his heart. He could hear the wind howling outside and the lights flashing on and off, adding to the horror. 

   Barney suddenly appeared, and  was yelling at him to run, grabbing at him. But Clint’s legs felt numb and his heart was pounding, he could barely hear over all the noise and the pounding of blood in his ears. 

   Something smashed into the side of the house, glass shattered, and Clint screamed. Barney grabbed him and hauled him off of the bed. Clint somehow got his shaking legs moving and they ran from his room to the front door. 

   Clint hesitated, all of his instincts telling him not to run outside into the storm. He wanted to stay safe in the house. But he had been taught to get to the storm cellar if he heard the sirens. 

   Barney pulled him through the door and Clint took in the sickening sky. It was dark, swirling, and sinister looking; and the clouds had a sickening green tinge to them. Clint stumbled as they ran across the yard, flinching as hail bit into his skin. 

   Things were blowing everywhere as Barney struggled to lift the door of the storm cellar. Their dad probably hadn’t checked to make sure it was oiled or operational. Even if it was, Clint wasn’t even sure Barney could lift the heavy door. Their dad was off at some bar right now, probably drunk, leaving them to fend for themselves as usual. 

   Clint’s eyes widened as he saw the funnel off in the distance, a dark mass coming to annihilate them. The wind screamed as the hail lessened and Clint felt his heart pounding. They were going to die out here. They were going to get blown away by a tornado because they were too weak to open a door. 

   Clint wasn’t going to just let himself die. He ran over and grabbed hold of the door with Barney, and after a few moments of struggle they wrenched the door open and tumbled down the stairs, the door slamming behind them. Clint crouched in a corner crying. Normally he would be embarrassed, especially crying in front of his older brother like a baby, but right now he didn’t care. 

   He wiped his nose on the sleeve of his shirt and sneezed at the dust and mold. The cellar hadn’t been used for years and was filthy. Barney had managed to find a flashlight that somehow still worked and climbed up the stairs. Clint had a moment of panic that Barney was going to go out into the storm and leave him, but was relieved when he saw that he was just checking the latch on the door. 

   Barney climbed back down the stairs and sat next to Clint, setting the flashlight on the ground. The light cast eerie shadows around them, and combined with the sounds of wind, pounding rain, hail, thunder, and sirens Clint found himself shaking. He was also wet and they were in a concrete hole underground. They might still die. Their dad might die, he was probably too drunk to take shelter. And even though Clint hated him he didn’t want his dad to die. 

   He was surprised when Barney put his arm around him. He gratefully curled into him and the two sat waiting out the storm. Suddenly there was a loud crash and Clint jumped up…

   Clint Barton groggily took in his surroundings as he sat up in bed, heart racing and covered in sweat. He was an adult, in the Avengers compound, not some little kid in Iowa, he tried to remind himself. But his heart pounded when a bright flash filled the room, followed by a loud crash. At least, he assumed it was loud since he could hear it without his hearing aids. 

   Clint took a deep steadying breath as he checked the weather app on his phone out of habit. No warnings, this was a regular storm. The storm in the background was why he had been dreaming about the day with the tornado. Clint flinched even thinking about the word tornado. God, he was weak. 

   All because of that fucking day decades ago he was afraid of storms. It had never impacted his performance on a mission. He could deal with regular storms, it was only severe storms and tornadoes that got him, and he had been fortunate enough not to have encountered any of those since his childhood. 

   He shivered as the storm picked up and reluctantly put his hearing aids in and turned on the light. He didn’t want to hear the storm, but he wanted to hear any warnings or sirens. Logically he knew FRIDAY would warn him with flashing lights or some really loud alarm, but it still felt better to be able to hear what was happening. Even if that meant having to listen to the sounds of the storm. 

   He looked up when the door to his room opened and Natasha poked her head in. 

   “I would have knocked but I wasn’t sure if you had your aids in or not,” she said, entering. 

   Clint smiled when Natasha sat down next to him and handed him his cup of coffee. 

   “What the hell are you wearing?,” Clint asked, taking in Natasha’s ridiculous pajamas. They were neon and covered in pugs wearing sunglasses. 

   “Like ‘em?,” Natasha said with a smirk. 

   Natasha bought the most insane looking pajamas she could find and dared people to laugh at her. Clint knew that everyone saw her as serious and stoic, so it was nice for Natasha to be able to show her fun side to the people she trusted. 

   Clint rolled his eyes then flinched at a loud boom of thunder. He took a sip of coffee, attempting to let the warmth soothe him. 

   “I honestly thought about going down in the bunker, but then I’d have to explain to everyone what I was doing down there,” Clint said after a moment. 

   Clint could never admit his phobia to anyone, Natasha was the only one who knew besides Barney. 

   “Just tell them it’s none of their damn business,” Natasha replied with a shrug. 

   Clint snorted. “Didn’t you learn anything from our team-building exercise last week?”

   Natasha glared at him as Clint laughed. 

   “I don’t see how forming a human knot and trying to untangle ourselves builds teamwork,” Natasha stated. 

   “It teaches us about cooperation, communication, planning and trust,” Clint said mimicking the agent that had been in charge of the whole thing. 

   “Thor almost broke my arm.”

   “Well you kicked him in the kneecap so I think you’re even.”

   Natasha smirked. 

   No one had thought the team-building exercises were a good idea, but one of the lead HR managers from the newly reopened SHIELD had insisted on it. It went about as well as Clint expected. 

   After Thor almost snapped Natasha’s arm and she kicked him in the knee, bringing him to the ground, the whole thing turned into a giant sparring fight. The flustered SHIELD agent was trying to get things back on track when Doctor Strange, who had been forced to be there too, had enough and dropped them through a portal. 

   After that everyone decided that the Avengers and their associates did not need to do any more team building exercises. Ever. 

   Clint jumped at a loud crash of thunder that was followed immediately by a vicious streak of lightning. 

   “It’s close,” Clint said, trying to sound calm. 

   “Where’s Lucky?,” Natasha asked, changing the subject. 

   Clint was pretty sure Natasha knew Lucky’s whereabouts, but was trying to distract him. Which he appreciated. 

   “Kate asked to borrow him for a sleepover.”

   “It’s good that she finally decided to come back. I know you missed her when she was in California,” Natasha replied. 

   “Me and Lucky both. Although I kind of wish I had kept Lucky tonight.”

   “You have me,” Natasha said, pretending to be offended and punching him lightly. 

   “I’ve told you that you don’t have to do this.”

   “What? Have midnight coffee sleepovers with my best friend?”

   “You know what I mean. You shouldn’t lose sleep because I don’t like storms,” Clint stated. 

   “You know I can’t sleep through them either. I’m always up anyway.”

   It was true. Natasha, from the years in the Red Room and working as an agent, was a ridiculously light sleeper. She had gotten better about sleeping through light noise, but loud things like storms or alarms woke her up easily. 

   Clint shrugged. “Well, I appreciate it. It’s just so stupid I have the same nightmare over and over. I have plenty of other shit to have nightmares about. I mean I’ve been brainwashed, tortured, injured, almost killed more times than I can count. I don’t get why this is the thing that stayed with me.”

   “We don’t get to pick what affects us and what doesn’t. Trust me,” Natasha said. 

   She had plenty of triggers from the Red Room that most people weren’t aware of. A few weeks ago they were walking by a dance studio and Natasha had frozen in the middle of the sidewalk at the sight of the ballet class inside. Fortunately Clint was with her and had managed to steer her into a nearby alley without anyone noticing so she could collect herself 

   “It wasn’t even that bad,” Clint said, referring to the tornado. “It didn’t hit our house or anything. No one died. I don’t get why I’m so freaked out about it.”

   It was frustrating to have to hide his fear from the team, especially when one of his teammates was the fucking God of Thunder. 

   “You know that Steve’s afraid of cold water. Tony’s afraid of caves. Bruce is afraid of crowded places. Thor’s afraid of hospitals,” Natasha stated. 

   “Yeah, yeah I know. Everyone’s afraid of something.”

   “And we’re still badasses. That’s the point. You can be afraid of something you think is stupid but still be strong.”

   Clint sighed. They had had this conversation many times, but he still needed to be reminded. 

   “Let’s watch something on Netflix,” Natasha said, sprawling out on his bed. 

   “Sure,” Clint said with a shrug. 

   They spent several minutes arguing over what to watch and finally decided on a stupid comedy movie they both loved.  

   Clint found himself slowly tuning out the storm and focusing on the movie. Eventually the storm died down and Clint felt himself start to doze off. He smiled when Natasha carefully took out his hearing aids, turned off the movie, then curled up to sleep beside him. 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This is a fear of mine and we've been having bad weather this week so I decided to channel my anxiety into a story. I figured growing up in Iowa Clint would have experiences with tornadoes. 
> 
> I'm one square away from my first bingo! The next prompt is "time travel" and I'm pretty sure I know what direction I'm going with that :) 
> 
>  
> 
> [Clint Barton Bingo Card](https://motherofbeardeddragons.tumblr.com/post/183483152992/im-excited-to-take-part-in-the-clint-barton-bingo)
> 
>  
> 
> [I'm on Tumblr!](https://motherofbeardeddragons.tumblr.com/)


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